Month: March 2022

Warner Bros, Walt Disney Co and Sony Pictures say they are pausing the release of their films in Russia.

Encountering deepening global isolation, Russia faced urgent calls Monday to end its “unprovoked” and “unjustified” assault on Ukraine as the UN General Assembly’s 193 members held an extraordinary debate on the invasion of the ex-Soviet state.

Faced with the toughest economic sanctions ever imposed on a major power, Moscow has limited options to lessen the pain.

Move comes after Ukraine asked Turkey to prevent transit of Russian warships from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea.

Smoke from Australian wildfires affects the layer that shields the Earth from harmful UV rays.

Vladimir Putin will “feel the consequences” of invading Ukraine, the PM says, as he heads to Poland and Estonia.

Burkina Faso’s junta chief on Tuesday signed a charter setting a three-year transition period before the country holds elections, an AFP journalist said, just over a month after he led a coup to overthrow the country’s elected leader.

Tokyo’s long-standing nuclear policy rules out any arms-sharing plan with Washington, Japan’s prime minister said

Japan will not be seeking a nuclear weapons-sharing deal with the United States, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said, after a former Japanese leader claimed the idea should not be considered “taboo.”

Speaking to parliament on Monday, Kishida rejected a nuclear-sharing arrangement as “unacceptable,” citing Japan’s “stance of maintaining the three nonnuclear principles,” according to Kyodo News.

Japan has long vowed to never produce, possess or allow other nations to bring nuclear weapons on its territory, having been the only nation in history to be attacked with atomic bombs. While it is protected under the US ‘nuclear umbrella,’ its non-nuclear status has been enshrined as a guiding principle for Japanese policy.

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Japan sanctions Putin

Kishida was responding to recent remarks by former PM Shinzo Abe, who said during a Sunday interview that Japan should consider a sharing deal as an option. “It’s essential to understand how the world’s security is maintained, and we shouldn’t treat those discussions as a taboo,” he argued, though also reiterated previous calls for the ultimate abolition of nukes altogether.

In addition to the UK and France, five non-nuclear NATO members – Turkey, Germany, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands – currently host American nuclear bombs on their soil, according to the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation. Seven other NATO states provide assistance for nuclear missions through conventional air support, and all 30 members, excluding France, belong to a body to discuss nuclear policy issues, the Nuclear Planning Group.

A small group of pioneers is looking to harness the potential of the untapped US market for hemp seeds and fibre.

Travellers in England and Wales will be charged up to 3.8% more, adding to the cost of living.